Earth Shin
Earth Shin, also called Supreme Earth is an alternate reality in close parallel with Earth Aleph and Earth Bet. As "Supreme Earth", it was the setting for an early draft of Worm. Notable Inhabitants * Goddess - transplanted dictator of the earth. * Tori Heflin * Ramrod (possibly known under a different alias) had a personality similar to Taylor, willing to make 'bad' decisions if there were 'good' justifications. For Ramrod this entailed keeping her family safe. She ascended the ranks of Goddess organization and struggled while finding out Goddess secrets. based on the name she may have been the unnamed cape with a pole, who had a power not unlike Gavel’s. Though that cape was male.One of the capes who had served under the Blue Woman in that cape-ruled alternate Earth. He had a power not unlike Gavel’s. ... The Gavel-alike dropped out of a portal directly above the golden man, driving a narrow pole into Scion’s neck. Scion was slammed into the water, quite possibly to the bottom of the bay. ... The portal was wiped out. Without any barrier in the way, the beam radiated forward to wipe Ash Beast, the cape with the pole, Trickster, and Othala from existence. - Excerpt from Speck 30.5 * Founders - Remnants of the global government imposed by Goddess. “Founders are Luis’s group, closest to Goddess’s old power structure.” “And the Coalition are the guys who weren’t at the meeting,” Vista supplied. “Coalition and Founders manage this prison.” - Excerpt from Breaking 14.11 ** Luis, diplomatic representative * Affiliated groups of resistance to Goddesses rule. ** Yosef of the Lone Sands * Coalition - remnants of regional governments that fled to novus mundus, politically united.Wars in their approximation of Europe saw multiple groups fleeing across what our side has termed the Alleghenian Ridge. To them it’s the Spine or the Bridge, in various dialects. Many groups fled, then either conflicted with or mingled with previous refugees and settlers at the end of the long journey. The coalition of nations that resulted is going to be who we’re spending the most time talking to, if we talk to any Shin governments.” - Excerpt from Breaking 14.4 * Red Queen - would be second dictator. * Chris Elman * Marquis * Other "reformed" villains. ** Local parahuman warlords: *** Parahuman,“Shin has a manufactured slave class, doesn’t it?”...“She has a servant who can make armies. Nothing behind the eyes, nothing between the ears. They follow simple orders and they can use weapons. Yes?”- Excerpt from Interlude 10.y II responsible for mass-production of artificial servants. Remanded to Chris's custody.There is a servant class that is cloned, smart enough to obey orders, too stunted to have an identity or personality beyond the surface level. We don’t know what to do with them. We would give you some, Chris Elman would feel their absence, and you could barter with him for what else you needed.” - Excerpt from Breaking 14.5 **** Servant caste: androgynous beige humanoids, functional non-sapients, docile.The lab had people in pods. Not many- ten. All of the people were nearly identical. Androgyne, with features, skin color, and proportions that looked like they had been pulled from the average of the world’s population. The stock had been from a slave class created at Bianca’s instruction. Easily trained, docile, and expendable. They looked human, but Amy had investigated, and she had verified, they had less emotional intelligence and less self than even a dog. Intelligence in other, necessary ways, yes. All short haired, all fairly tan by default, all wearing what looked like white t-shirts and boxers, with a stripe of red down the center of each shirt, down the sides of each set of boxers. As part of her negotiation with Chris, she had made the treatment of these creatures a major point. For the most part, they were kept warm, happy, entertained, and safe. If Chris wanted to experiment on one, he had to ask. Which served a double purpose of ensuring Chris didn’t disappear into his labs altogether, never emerging again. He had to maintain connections. - Excerpt from From Within 16.z *** Unnamed moth-man trump - cocoon surgeon, responsible for the local capes' photogenicity.I found another Earth with a mixture of capes, all incredibly beautiful people, all in what was obviously a global position of power. - Speck 30.4I’d be beautiful beyond compare. She has a lieutenant who creates pods. Sensory deprivation and plastic surgery in one. - Beacon 8.7“The one in blue is the cocoon trump. Makes people beautiful, stronger, healthy. Gives them protections, keeps them a certain age.” - Excerpt from Sundown 17.8 He seems to be Case 53 himself.A man with what looked like a blue moth mask, wearing multiple layers of blue and white capes that wrapped around him, almost encasing his body. He didn’t seem to have access to his arms or even the full range of motion of his legs. His hair was nearly white, he was tall, and his lower face, visible beneath the mask, had a constant, slight smile to it. - Excerpt from Sundown 17.8 *** Unnamed one-eyed woman striker ** Around hundred-and-half of various parahuman ex-prisoners from Bet and Gimel *** Crock o’Shit *** Coalbelcher *** Gambol *** La Llorona *** The Fallen **** Coronzon **** Seir **** Ahrima **** Bamet ** Gosling ** Johnny Shambles ** The other Johnny ** Adze ** Screwdriver * Shin Defense Initiative ** Gibborim Knight ** Mother of Mothers ** The Giantess ** Mathers-clone History Background Supreme Earth was an alternate reality that featured villains operating like terrorist cells, destabilizing society to make people dependent on superhumans to get energy, food and safety. Basically put, a world with superhumans that had no superheroes. Takeover on a global level, with non-superhumans as second class citizens. Somewhere between 2008 and 2011 portal in White Rock, British Columbia, becomes a public knowledge, spurring smuggling activity around it. Eventually it becomes a vector for diseases, gets quarantined, and produces Goddess' Cluster. Bianca with her clustermates get exiled into Earth Shin by Cauldron, and shortly she takes over the local parahumans and the planet. Professor Haywire discovered Supreme Earth, naming it "Earth Shin" or "Earth S". The PRT was aware of its existence, and the potential threat represented by Goddess' mind control was one of the reasons they were extremely cautious of contact with other Earths. Its existence was heavily classified within the PRT and government.Lausanne RP Timeskip There was some sort of breach event in Paris on December 19th 2012.Paris, December 19th, 2012 // Simurgh Notes: Victory by Scion. Target/Consequence: see file The Woman in Blue. See file United Capes. - Excerpt from Scarab 25.6 Gold Morning Khepri came upon this Earth and took its occupants, seizing them for her war. Only Goddess and her inner circle were able resist, and then only temporarily.I found another Earth with a mixture of capes, all incredibly beautiful people, all in what was obviously a global position of power. Every flag that flew in their world was the same flag, and the gauntlet emblem on that flag matched the icon on a particular woman’s costume. A blue costume, with white fur at the collar, and a heavy cape that would have done Alexandria proud. I attempted to seize control of them as well, and the woman in blue resisted me. She spoke, and I lost my hold on everyone in her range. It was only twenty capes. Negligible. But I wasn’t going to settle. If I was going to compromise on any level, it was going to take more than this. ... The others… they weren’t weak. Nothing gamebreaking, at a glance, but they weren’t weak. - Excerpt from Speck 30.4 Post-Gold Morning Its leader was rumored to have returned to her earth to rule it.refugees of Earth Shin say a parahuman took over their Earth a decade ago. one woman. she went back home to continue ruling them. - Excerpt from Glow-worm P.8 However, Goddess was in fact a resident of Earth Gimel, seeking a power that was stolen from her, and which she needed for the reconquest of Earth Shin.“A power was taken from me,” Bianca said. “Without it, I can’t return to my throne. I’m being hunted and fucking hounded, and I get no peace.” - Gleaming 9.2 Shin was a critical supplier of Gimel, providing crude materialsI had a sense of which materials had come from where, with a lot of the prefab building segments having come from Cheit, a lot of crude materials from Shin, and outright raw materials from Earth N - Excerpt from Black 13.7, clothingPutting us at the foot of the station. The station had American and other Gimel flags flying from poles along the left side. To the right were standards, flags that draped down, each with its own iconography, colors, and shape at the end, whether it was two triangular tails or something rounded off. I’d actually seen some of the images on clothing, and I hadn’t mentally connected to them being anything like flags. I’d figured it was from a game. - Excerpt from Breaking 14.4, and food.“Right now we’re supplying enough food to feed two million of your people and we’ll continue doing so through the winter. Amy Dallon pledged assistance and cooperation to increase that amount to five million, possibly to ten. That’s food. Shelter. Clothing. Chemicals. Industry. - Excerpt from Breaking 14.5 Post-Goddess' Takeover Local governments accepted reintroduction of parahumans with severe conditions. Post-Time Bubble Pop Following the reveal of political involvement of parahumans on Gimel, Shin attempted to establish the dominance over The City by leveraging their relief support during the incoming winter. At the time Shin provided around the third of the Gimel resources, including food.“Materials from Shin have been about thirty percent of what Gimel received to date. Cheit’s fifty, if I remember right. Ten percent from Nun and other associated corner worlds. Something like six percent from Gimel itself, three percent from Bet, reclaim and scavenging. You guys wanted to put as much as you could into rebuilding. Shelters and businesses first, Gimel having its own supply and manufacturing chains came second. The numbers for supplied food versus what Gimel produces on its own are different, but I think last winter they were sort of close to what I just said.” - Excerpt from Breaking 14.9 After the failure of several heavy-handed provocations The Founders and Coalition factions were able to regain their political influence.Dying 15.a Post-Attack on Teacher Shin started accepting refugees from The City. The Atlantic Seaboard Capitol was partially evacuated to accommodate for disturbances on Gimel, as well as for the new project of Lab Rat.Chris had had his laboratory moved to the capitol, to be closer to the portal in case something happened. In response, a lot of the capitol had moved away. It left some room for Gimel’s population to settle, but for the most part, buildings were being emptied and left empty.- Excerpt from From Within 16.z Shin Defense Initiative is deployed in attempt to strike against encroaching Machine Army and intimidate the remaining inhabitants of The City, sparking the second Shin-Gimel crisis. The Ice Breaks At the insistence of her fathers, Amy Dallon turns herself in to the Wardens. Chris Elman mobilises his Giants against the Titans. Cultural notes and Divergences Shin has a landmass in the Atlantic Ocean, called the Alleghenian Ridge, that is not present in other recorded Earths. It made possible early migration from war-torn Europe to Americas.They either know our customs and speak our language, due to Goddess’s enforcement of English as a universal language, or they speak their own language and the translators know us and will adapt.” “Universal language?” Sveta asked. “Ew.” “It’s convenient, if nothing else. Divergence was ages ago but the world progressed along fairly similar tracks. They had a very war-torn past that leaves them conflict averse. Wars in their approximation of Europe saw multiple groups fleeing across what our side has termed the Alleghenian Ridge. To them it’s the Spine or the Bridge, in various dialects. Many groups fled, then either conflicted with or mingled with previous refugees and settlers at the end of the long journey. The coalition of nations that resulted is going to be who we’re spending the most time talking to, if we talk to any Shin governments.” - Excerpt from Breaking 14.4 They also suffered two extinction level events at some point in their history.“How advanced are they?” Kenzie asked, her voice still nasal. “They lunged ahead of our Earth a long time ago, but they also had two near-extinction events that slowed them down. That’s not counting Gold Morning. - Excerpt from Breaking 14.4“To clarify, they were more advanced early on, but then slowed down after two near extinction-level events, so they are more or less at parity." - Wildbow on subreddit Scientists on Earth Shin were extremely interested in investigating powers. Goddess herself claims to have benefited from Shin science. I can tell you that people in my world were very interested in deciphering powers. They helped make me what I am, unwittingly, but they were happy in the end. - Gleaming 9.2 She also claims that Cauldron would deposit Case 53s and other curiosities on Shin for her labs to puzzle out."The, ah, monsters who made you, painted Tress, that icon on your cheek-” ... “-they would deposit the monsters and the unsolvable riddles in my world. We solved most. My understanding of powers helps, our labs help more.” - Gleaming 9.2 Earth Shin had a limited use of petroleum, they either were not relying on it as heavily as Bet and Aleph during their industrialization period, or phased it out early. Shin increased gasoline production only under Goddess, as part of her previous deals with Cauldron, and mostly for trading purposes.Shin didn’t use a lot of gasoline, and had only really started producing and refining it for Gimel at Goddess’s behest, as part of deals struck before Gold Morning. Cauldron, Chris had said. - Excerpt from From Within 16.z The architecture tended to be grandiose, regal and heavily decorated.They lead the way through, onto a rooftop. The wind blows, the sky is dark and roiling, and something about the city feels -off- somehow. "I know that it's strange to say the PRT is minor, when it's the largest group of capes in the world, but..." the man trails off. He indicates the world before you. The architecture is odd. There's a goal or a design behind it all. A regality, like the ornamentation of a grandfather clock. You're pretty damn sure that this isn't architecture you've seen in any photos about Earth. - Lausanne RPSkyscrapers, but modified, augmented, and decorated. The Wardens’ old headquarters had included a giant statue as part of it, but it was the norm here. A skyscraper with a castle built into one face of it. A tower was crowned with statuary of what might have been a hawk. Red was a dominant color. - Excerpt from Breaking 14.4Towers extending up from one of a building’s four faces. Another squat building had no third and fourth floor, a stone figure curled up within, holding the fifth floor up. - Excerpt from Breaking 14.5 Local national flags follow the same trend. Clothing styles, while practical, are similarly quite distinct in style and decorative elements. In region equivalent to North-East American coast, colorful braiding is a very popular motif. Local capes, indeed, do wear capes, and exceedingly complex at that.The Shepherds who’d been stationed at the entrance had backed off, as a crowd of capes emerged. Half-and-half. Half had clothing in the Shin style, with masks and draping cloth. Capes, like more old fashioned capes had worn on Bet, but with more emphasis. Layered with one cape atop another with a slightly different cut, so the edge of the one beneath framed the one above. Stylized drapings of cloth made to evoke images, or made so overwhelming that the cape was ninety percent of the costume. There were patterns recurring across the costumes that looked like Shin’s equivalent of tartan, argyle, or houndstooth, but more complex. - Excerpt from Sundown 17.8 Shin has heavily formalized negotiation culture, with honorary mirroring and subtle nuances of positioning. When performed properly it has poetic qualities.Breaking 14.5 It seems to be a product of contradiction of violent, but war-averse culture. However, when formality is not mandated, Shin denizens tend be very relaxed, eschewing even some basic rules, that would be self-evident for Aleph/Bet person, such as road traffic regulations or work schedules.Shin tended to be very informal when formality wasn’t stipulated, and that included roads without lanes or signage, that trusted people to fend for themselves and watch where they were going. It meant the work week was often a flexible thing. Obviously someone couldn’t not go to work at all, but arriving a few hours late, staying an extra few hours? That was fine. - Excerpt from From Within 16.z The tradition of page patronage is still practiced on Shin, although in modified shape, where lower class kids are randomly chosen as official and domestic servants to the people of importance.Interlude 14.z II Shin's approach to law enforcement while mentioned as expansive in scope, in many ways still very medieval and anarchic, favoring low regulation, short imprisonment, communal jails, courts-of-peers, and violent punishments. There is a heavy reliance on manual labor and lax safety standards.People milled around the stalled traffic on that raised throughway that took cars over three-story buildings and hills. Those people were Shin service workers with shovels and brooms, weaving between cars to get snow off of the roadway. With the platform being raised, lacking railings or dividers between the edge and the city below, it produced a constant plume of white. - Excerpt from From Within 16.z Goddess attempted to make English universal language of the planet. While some locals are able to understand and speak English, it did not take hold en masse due to shortness of Bianca's reign. Trivia *In early drafts of Worm, the question of how Goddess controlled the superhumans so effectively and totally was a central mystery as the protagonist (Ramrod) ascended through the ranks. Wildbow has stated that he still considers the story canon.Not a lot to say. It was fairly early into my stint of writing for the genre, and I was mainly exploring things. Supreme Earth was an alternate reality that featured villains operating like terrorist cells, destablizing society in ways that were both major and minor (from offing world leaders to destroying city power grids), and putting the world in a situation where they were dependent on superhumans to get energy, food and safety. Basically put, a world with superhumans that had no superheroes. Takeover on a global level, with non-superhumans as second class citizens. Ramrod was kind of similar to Skitter in that she was an (arguably) good person in a cynical – she was new to her powers, entering the Supreme’s organization from the ground level, but her priorities were mainly ensuring that her family was taken care of. As she ascended in the ranks, keeping that perspective would have been the main challenge. In terms of the greater plot, there was the question of why the villains were so organized and why Goddess, the leader of the superhumans, was able to keep every superhuman in line. As far as I’m concerned, Supreme Earth is canon in the Wormverse. It probably won’t ever show its face, but it’s an alternate reality that falls in close parallel with Worm’s. Beyond the use of the name Ramrod, Supreme Earth’s characters weren’t really reused (though I think Regent might have poked his head in for one draft). - Comment by Wildbow on Prey 14.8 **A seemingly unrelated, male character named Ramrod is mentioned twice in Worm. Site Navigation Category:Locations Category:Earths Category:Earth Shin